Rippln Review: Scam or not?

Have you got one of these rippln invites in your email inbox or on your cell phone? Have you been asked to start a ripple and jump on the latest and greatest thing that is going to change the way everything is marketed and sold on the Internet? I am not buying into it. You will not get a Rippln invite from me. I ask that if you have my contact information…. please do not give that info to Rippln. I did receive an invite from a good friend and colleague. I did not take the next step and sign up. I am sure the rippln supporters will tell me how I missed out. We will see how this thing progresses and if it succeeds the SEC checks when it starts charging for the privilege of earning from your efforts.

Here is my review of Rippln based on what I have learned and from my experience with Internet Marketing and affiliate marketing.
I am not on the ripple. I have not joined anyone’s ripple. I am not sending out invites, nor will I try to convince you at the end of this review to give it a try yourself.

Website: Ripplin.com or StartMyRipple.comCosts: Not Announced yetPeople:
These names have been mentioned as being the leaders at Rippln
Brian Underwood
Jonathan Budd
Russell Brunson
Terry Lacore
James Radina
Jim Bunch

From what I can tell, its another MLM pyramid structured program that is masking itself through an app that will allow everyone to benefit from sharing products and apps in the future. They are in the so called beta phase, where everyone “has fun” trying to build their ripple as big as they can. At some point a new app is going to be available that allows you to earn from your ripple.

Product Overview: I don’t think they have a real product. At least they don’t have one yet. They claim that companies will come to them and pay them to market their products though the app and the ripples…rewarding everyone all the way down in some way for spreading the word.From the outside looking in… This sounds like a viable way to market a new product. My fear is that it will be a bunch of crappy apps that are a complete waste of time or some old MLM weight loss product that wasn’t successful with its original network marketing plan. Maybe it will something new. You better believe that the people above you in the Ripple will all be singing the praises and telling you how great these products are as they attempt to get you to buy them or spend your time using them.

The People and Other Companies.
Go ahead and google the people that are involved. You will find ties to Burnlounge, Localadlink, and Izigg. I am not sure if any of them were in Zeekrewards and Zeekler. But Zeek Rewards is another company was shut down. Some have said Rippln has been able to grab some of the top performers from Zeek.

Summary: I don’t like it. I think it will eventually fail. Some may make some money along the way. I think to make money you will have to pay some kind of set-up fee and a monthly fee, then convince others to do the same as you. The people in the ripples will be spammed like crazy to make the commitment to upgrade. The app is going to make it easy to spam and may actually do the spam notifications for you. That app you install will give them access to your contacts in the phone and on your email program. Before you jump in too deep, make sure you are ready for the bombardment you are about to put on your friends and family and maybe clients as well.

Hey Real Ripplr, The rippln compensation plan has changed at least 3 or 4 times. The early videos showed you getting a bonus when you got 5 to “PLAYER up”.That was illegal and therefore it was changed. The early videos showed you having to pay $300 to $500 just for the privilege of getting paid on your ripple. That cost has been reduced to $70/year and $25/month. Are you saying that you can make money in Rippln without paying anything and never buying anything? I don’t think so. Ripplrs are being urged to start paying without seeing any real products that will earn them money. Its a scam. You will see this eventually. Maybe you are at the top and need people to believe they can make money without paying anything.

It seems that these products are continue to become more and more popular as time goes on. Somehow systems like this have become acceptable online because yes, some people do make money, but that is at the cost of a lot of other people losing money.

Recently I heard about another genius business. You pay $5K, and this buys you into the “system”. When enough people buy into this system, you get finally make your way to the top. At the top of the pyramid, you get a good payout $40-50K and then are booted out of the program and you have to start again.

Not a true ponzi because you leave it and that is their way around it, but there is no product and you are buying in and have to get others to buy in to move up the ladder.

There are many variations and sophisticated formulations online that are exactly the same as this model and people are fooled into thinking programs like Rippln are legitimate simply because there is an abundance of other folks doing it.

The facebook billion bill, and oh what you get with this?
RIPPLN global launch of new social network, which in a few weeks to get this 1 million members, such as facebook, orkut, twitter and others who bill billion.
The bill will RIPPLN billion and split a percentage to your affiliates … imagine?
I’m already inside, so do not waste time, come to RIPPLN you too.
Understand the company and its rules.

Yes, you can possibly make a lot of money if you are okay with paying $69.95/year and $25/month plus feel comfortable pushing everyone that thought they were playing a game to do the same thing. I wonder how many of those millions will participate once they see the they can’t really make anything unless they pay and get others to pay.

I don’t think you will see the big companies flocking to pay Rippln a ton of money to get the products out like they claim… but I may be wrong.

It is going to hinge on whether they try to monetize through subscriptions or if they let it build organically to a large number of people and then tie compensation to product sales rather than subscription. It depends on if they are greedy or smart. Smart would say that there is a chance people are tired of Facebook and looking for an alternative. If they can give real functionality to a product that allows for real communication they could have something good. If not, NEXT.

Based on this other review I just read, I’d say the founders are greedy. This article is well written, appears to be fact based and on point…I don’t believe I’ll be wading in the waters when the rippl occurs…

Hey Reid,
Is the risk really that small?
I am guessing….
You have given them access to your contact information.
You have given them access to all of your friends and family.
If you sign up… you will have given them your credit card information.

It is always prudent to approach a new opportunity with some skepticism and caution, but right now the risk is low. At this stage of the game, they are generating buzz about the product and that’s it. I want to get the scoop and possibly be in on the next big thing. I’ll do my due diligence, and when the plan is revealed about how they will monetize it, then I am free to make my decision to move forward or opt out. I have a three year plan, and this might be a great mechanism to get me there…and it might not. I will weigh the risks and benefits when the time comes.

Before joining, you should ask yourself this: “What is the point of Rippln?” If you watch their videos or read their FAQ, the answer is that you should be paid when you share apps with your friends, when your friends share with their friends, and so on. Sounds great!

Now ask yourself, “does Rippln accomplish its stated mission?” Say your friend Bill is in your first ripple. If you recommend an app to him and he buys it, you get paid and all is well. Next, pretend Bill happens to be in someone else’s ripple, and you tell him about an app. Now, you don’t get paid, but the people above Bill in the system do get paid. This does not make sense, since they got paid for doing nothing, while you didn’t get paid for showing Bill the app. Next, pretend that you are part of Bill’s ripple. Lets say you purchase and app, share it with him, and he buys it. Now, Bill gets paid since you bought the app, and you are paid nothing! Futhermore, every sufficiently advanced player above Bill gets paid twice: once for you and once for Bill. You, however, get nothing. This is because Rippln does not pay you for recommending apps to your friends. Instead Rippln pays you for being highly ranked in Rippln.

Now consider money. The average number of people a Rippln user has directly under him is (just under) 1. This will always be true by the nature of the system. Now consider that even to be eligible to be paid, a user needs 5 people in their immediate ripple. This means that in the Rippln crowd, for every person eligible to be paid, there are at least 4 who are not. Even without considering the monthly and annual fees, 80% of Rippln users are not able to profit at any given time.

So far, Rippln hasn’t held up to their mission, but at least none of the arguments above include people losing money. Now consider this: According to the payout plan, in order to unlock commission on even your first two ripples, you need to have two paying players directly underneath you. If you consider that the average number of players a player had in his first ripple is less than 1, this means that at over half of paying customers cannot get paid commission on their ripples. In other words, most paying customers will lose money just by the nature of the system. Many more will lose because the monthly fee is so high.

TL,DR: Rippln does not reward you for sharing apps. Rippln rewards you for being highly ranked in Rippln. 80% of users can’t even get the option of being paid. Over half of paying customers cannot be paid commissions due to the nature of Rippln’s payout plan.

I signed up with my usual junk mail address and got ten friend to do the same. I’ve got 90 people under me and it’s growing daily. I’ve done nothing other than that. If I don’t spend a nickle and somehow it pays me later what’s the risk? Yes these guys have pasts of MLM’s that got shut down there hundreds of them over the years. I see nothing wrong with this unless money changes hands. If I make nothing because I’m not interested in $70 a year and $25 to “work my invites” then I could care less. I made it very clear they were under no financial obligation and I was not risking money unless this thing turns out to be what they hope; a e-commerce social network. BTW, Facebook, Twitter and Instragram all make plenty off their MLM models there is no risk with it. What’s the risk?

How are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram MLM? Yes they make money off their user’s activity. Some of their users do make money from their actions there. Most do not. There is a lot of time wasted on facebook for sure. So if you used your junk mail and your friends used their junk mail.. and none of you ever intend to pay the $70/year and $25/month and none of you plan to check your junk mail…. How do you think you will make money with this system? The guys at the top are betting on a significant chunk of people to fall for the dream of getting rich, to pay the money and convince others to do the same. I have seen a video that says you have to pay the money to be eligible to get paid… and you have to find 2 people to pay the money to actually get paid. Its a bilateral system.. so you have to keep getting each person to find at least 2 people to pony up with the fees.

I also invited people to sign up. I said that there’s no harm in joining and inviting others to do the same since its free.

But now it seems to start rearing its ugly head. Rippln is asking me to pay to become an MVP player without stating any specific info on how they’ll make money except for the upgrade fees.

They said the upgrade is a one time offer to have me included in their inner circle before the global launch. Once launched, they won’t offer it again. They could have made me an MVP player on the spot since I’m an early adopter.

Idiots. It sounds crappy alright. Too bad, it really seemed like a good idea (a social network with an MLM).

While I agree with you and this does sound fishy and more exploration should be done. You really seem to be all over anyone that is taking the risk and giving it a chance. Your article is named “Rippln Review: Scam or not?” but when anyone says that it might have some benefit, you chime in and tell them how bad it is. I would suggest that you sit back and let people do what they want, take your word for what it is, your opinion and if you are right a year from now you can say I told you so. Badgering anyone that is giving it a shot is not the way to go.

Where is this $70 startup and $25/mth coming from? Has this been verified? I do NOT want to give out my friends names and contact info without knowing what I am exposing them to; I’d like to keep them as friends. I also do not “Pay to Play” without a known ROI. Please advise… I’m at the “phase” where they want 5 names. It’s starting to smell. Has anyone gone further than I have?

The pricing is all over youtube and their facebook page ( the one that has less than 10% of their users liking it). It looks like people are just starting to “power up” and “become a player” – Its $70/year to become a player…and $25/month to play the game for cash rewards. Very soon they will try to sell you a coaching program.. for how much? I can’t find the pricing anywhere. I have ot even joined a ripple, so that’s where my participation stopped. I think there are commenters here that joined the ripple, not sure if they have paid. Everyone that joins will be asked to pay.. via email, via the back office, via their upline (I mean earlier ripplers)

I became curious about the rippln offer, and sent out 3 invites which have now expired. I only learned yesterday how much money they require. So I am reading more about it, and appreciate this information. I will probably not go further with it, and continue to look for other opportunities.

Yeah you think they would have got to a million users if they would have said.. join now for free, you can earn money when you pay $70/yr and $25/month and get others to do the same…and others to do the same … and….

you’ll miss out then because you’re not “REQUIRED” to pay anything, I can see you haven’t been listening to any of the conference calls or asked questions to people that are in Rippln…don’t waste time on this page, this guy is getting paid to do this

You are “required” to pay to get paid. I guess you can join and simply “have fun” playing the game increasing your ripple for the guys above you… Yes, I get paid by you visiting this website… and I get paid if you decide to build a legitimate business with me at Wealthy Affiliate.

I am optimistic about Rippln. I have decided to become a player and feel good about my decision. The company is still in prelaunch at this point and will be for a while. Sometimes chances are worth taking and I am taking a chance on this one!

Bo,
Thanks for the info. I got the usual invite from a trusted friend and like I do with any of this “make-money-fast-just-by-inviting-friends” I did a search (which I recommend everyone to do), of both, the good comments and the bad ones about it.
I decided not to join, and it is an informed choice. People are free to join whatever they want, but should never do it blindly.
Read, and then decide.

I signed up in early August. The fees at first were the $69 one time plus $25 for the 1st month. Now my card got charged another $25 yesterday. Geez. Still no app even out yet or any publicity and now I am out another $25. I am getting frustrated but they say the Rippln “rollout” starts this week. We shall see

I admit, I gave it a go. But once you enter the ‘Rippln Dashboard’ and click on PLAY tab, they would ask you if you would like to power up? The thing with this power up is they will double your commission, make you one of the loyal MVP (as they would call it), etc… but there’s a catch, you need to pay a one time fee of $95 and a $30 fee monthly just so you can enjoy the benefits. That lead me to erasing them from my bookmarks tab and totally not joining it.

On top of that.. you have to get 2 of your ripples to power up to the $95 one time and $30/month… then you got to get your ripples to start buying stuff…so you can make commissions. They claim the 95 and 30 is not eligible for commission payments..

Yet.. if you pay your fee and play the game.. you earn points which are later converted to cash.. If you earn points for paying fees.. and then convert points to cash.. Isn’t that just a scam to get the monthly fees paid out as commissions? Crazy!

How about the $300 coaching course? I am sure there is a ton of people rushing to get that thing, just like there will be many of the ripplers paying money to guess what picture your friends share.. WOW! I am amazed at how many keep sticking with these guys.